Thorn in My Side
by Kaley Rivers
Summary: The War is over, Voldemort is dead and now everyone that is alive is left to pick up the pieces. Emery is struggling to figure out why she can't play Quidditch and she blames the person who found her unconscious on the floor
1. Therapy

Thorn in My Side

**Therapy**

"Emery are you going to stay quiet for the whole session?" I turned my head and looked at my therapist before looking back at the ceiling.

I hated seeing this therapist, I hated the fact that I was being forced to be here, I hated the fact that for the last 6 months I wasn't able to keep playing Quidditch, I hated the fact that I wasn't allowed to play Quidditch until my therapist said so and I hated the fact that this therapist won't approve me to go back to Quidditch until she deemed me sane.

You see it all started 6 months ago, my friends and I were called back to Hogwarts two years after we graduated to help assist with the battle that was going on within the Castle. It turns out that Harry Potter had turned up to try and kill Voldemort. During the battle I lost my cousin Nymphadora Tonks, my uncle Remus Lupin and my best friend Fred Weasley but they weren't the only people I had lost due to Voldemort, a few months before the Battle at Hogwarts another uncle Ted Tonks had been killed by snatchers while on the run. Two years ago my father Sirius Black had been killed by Bellatrix Lestrange during a battle in the Department of Mysteries. Three years ago my old best friend Cedric Diggory had been killed by Peter Pettigrew. Seventeen years ago my God father James Potter and his wife Lily Potter had been killed by Voldemort himself.

They weren't the only people I had lost as I was growing up, my mum was killed when I was 8 in a car accident and I ended up living with the Diggory's for the rest of my life. Isabelle Diggory was my God mother and before my mum had died we had lived next door to them and my childhood best friend Cedric Diggory. It wasn't until we started at Hogwarts; I was sorted into Gryffindor while Cedric was sorted in Hufflepuff that we slowly started to drift apart. In Gryffindor I met Fred and his twin brother George and we got along extremely well. I also got along with two of the girls in my dorm room Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet.

But me losing all those people throughout my life isn't the reason I was forced to see this stupid therapist, if that was the case I would have been in a Loony Bin after my sixth year. I was devastated after Cedric appeared in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch in Harry's arms dead. I spent most of that summer drunk hiding in my room at Grimmauld Place. Instead what happened was the night after Fred's funeral I was drinking in my flat and I may have gotten too drunk and I was frustrated that he just left George and I here alone without him, so I punched the mirror in my bedroom. I don't know how I managed it but somehow I slit my wrist on the broken glass. I was trying to clean it up and as well as myself up but I passed out first, next thing I know I wake up in the hospital in a room with nothing but a bed on the floor. Turns out the idiot that found me thought I was trying to kill myself, so he checked me into the Psychiatric Ward at St Mungo's.

So I spent the next 5 months in the ward before being released two weeks ago, while in the ward I had to see my therapist weekly. Now that I'm out it is no different, I am still seeing the same stupid therapist weekly. If it took her 5 months to release me, how long is it going to take to approve me to play Quidditch again?

"What would you like me to say?" I finally spoke without looking at her; instead I looked around the room. My therapist, Mary-Anne Dunken had numerous awards and certificates hanging on the wall.

"Why are you here Emery?"

"Because I got drunk and did something stupid" I began rubbing my right wrist along the scar, it was something I had began doing recently when I was agitated or nervous

"You still stand by the fact that you didn't attempt to kill yourself"

"I didn't attempt to kill myself, I was frustrated with the fact that one of my best friends was dead and I just buried him along with everyone else I had lost recently"

"Fair enough, let's try something else then. How about you stand up and stand in front of the mirror?" I turned my head and looked at her for a moment to see if there was any sign to if she was joking or not but I didn't see anything. So I just got up and walked over to the mirror. "Emery what do you see?"

I stare at my reflection in the mirror, my normally tanned skin had paled from spending so much time inside, my bright green eyes look dull and flat. According to my friends when I was laughing they would shine something incredible and when I was angry it was seen in my eyes as well. My caramel coloured hair looked like a rats nest, it reminded me I really needed to something about it.

"What do you see Emery?" I just sighed and put my head in my hands.

"I see a girl who has lost too many people close to her and a girl who is incredibly frustrated because she isn't allowed to play Quidditch. Why can't you see that I didn't try to kill myself and I haven't in the two weeks I have been at home and I don't plan on doing it any time soon. I am not going to throw myself off my broom, why can't you let me go back to Quidditch?" I turned around and faced her before sitting back down on the couch

"Let's not talk about Quidditch, let's talk about the people you lost. Who was the person you lost first"

"My mum, you know this. She died in a car accident, I almost died in it as well. She was also a muggle born hence why we were using a car. We were on our way to visit my grandparents"

"That isn't what I want you to talk about, tell me about your mum or anyone else you lost"

"Do I have too?"

"If you want to be able to go back to Quidditch at some stage"

"Fine, my mum was the sweetest, nicest person I can remember meeting. She was the person I looked up to the most when I was younger; she made the best waffles for breakfast. I was devastated when she died"

"Who was next?"

"Are you really going to make me talk about everyone that died?"

"How else are we meant to pass the time?"

"Fine, Cedric Diggory was next. He was my childhood best friend; he was still my best friend when he was killed. He was killed during the Triwizard Tournament which he was a champion in, he came back into the Quidditch Pitch in the arms of Harry Potter. At first no one knew what was going on but seeing him there dead broke me"

"How did it break you?"

"I had just seen my best friend lying on the ground dead, I was devastated. I couldn't even go home that summer and be there with his parents without him"

"What was Cedric like?"

"He was the best friend anyone could ask for, he was there for me when a boy broke my heart or when someone said something mean to me. He was the shoulder I cried on when everything turned bad. He knew me inside and out, he could take one look at me and know something was wrong. It got to the point where he didn't even ask what was wrong, all he would have to do was give me a look. I swear I saw that look so many times during our fifth year"

"What happened during your fifth year?"

"My dad broke out of Azkaban, you know Sirius Black? Everyone seemed to have thought he was one of Voldemort's Death Eaters because they believed he was the one to betray the Potter's and blow up the street killing 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew"

"What made you so sure he was innocent before the rest of the world?"

"My mum, she couldn't believe that he had betrayed them. I trusted my mum; therefore I believed that he was innocent"

"You dad was killed next wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was killed at the end of my seventh year at Hogwarts. That year was hell with Umbridge raining hell at Hogwarts, I had words carved into my hand, I felt like my head was going to explode and aside from all of that I had to deal with my NEWTs and worry about what I wanted to do as a career"

"What made you choose Quidditch?" I had no idea why she kept asking all these bullshit questions, I thought she just wanted to know how messed up in my head I was

"I don't know if I chose Quidditch as such or if it chose me. I joined the team in my second year when I tried out for the house team at Hogwarts, I loved playing Quidditch and I was a decent player. I kept playing throughout my time at Hogwarts except for my sixth year due to it being cancelled. In my seventh year I was too busy worrying about making it through the year without Umbridge kicking me off the team or carving more words into my hand. At the end of the year after our match against Ravenclaw I approached by a scout saying he would like to offer me a position on his team. So I took it"

"What happened during the rest of your time at Hogwarts, what were things like with your friends? Fred Weasley was one of them wasn't he?"

"Yes I was friends with Fred, in fact I was extremely close to him and his twin brother George. At some stage I was becoming closer to them instead of Cedric but he had his own friends and I had mine. I met Fred and George on our second day at Hogwarts, we had gotten lost on the way to Potions and ended up in detention together because of it. I met Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet the first night since we shared a dorm together. They were the best girlfriends anyone could ask for; they were always up for talking about boys and who we thought were cut or hot as we got older. The three of us were Chasers on the house team together, sometimes people thought since we were so close it was what made us so adapt with playing with each other"

"Was that the only time you ended up in detention with Fred and George?"

"Alright seriously what is the point of these questions? How is me spending who knows how many nights of my time at Hogwarts in detention preventing me from playing Quidditch?"

"How did you feel after seeing Fred's body then?" I just stared at her, I had enough talking. So I just laid there on the couch with my eyes closed and waited until the time was up.

"Time is up Emery, you can leave and I will see you next week. Think about your time at Hogwarts with your friends, what it was like once you were playing Quidditch Professionally and what your year was like last year when Voldemort was at his highest"

"Sure, bye Mary" I just got up and left before heading to Ali's flat where I knocked on the door

"Em, what are you doing here?" I was shocked to find Lee opening the door

"I came to speak to Ali is she home?"

"No, she is working her shift at St Mungo's you could always go visit her?" Lee moved aside to let me in

"No thanks I've spent enough time at St Mungo's, how come you're here?" I walked through the house and sat down on the couch. I forgot Ali worked at St Mungo's, she worked in the Magical Creature injury ward. Lee just worked at the Daily Prophet in the Sports section.

"Ali and I moved in together the other week"

"Right, I guess I will just add that to the pile of events that I missed while being locked up"

"Em you weren't locked up, you were just placed in a Psychiatric Ward because you hurt yourself"

"I didn't try to kill myself..."

"Em, I didn't say you did. I just said you hurt yourself, someone else made the assumption. Not me or Ali or even the rest of our friends. We were just worried about you in there, we weren't allowed to visit you at first. The only information we got was when Ali went down to the ward to ask someone"

"I know and I'm grateful that once I was able to have visitors having you all there meant everything"

"You had therapy today didn't you?"

"What gave it away?"

"That fact that you are thinking about the past, you never do it. You don't live in the past; you even hate looking into the future. You are one of those people that focus' on the present"

"Yeah the stupid therapist kept asking questions about the past; I don't see what any of it has to do with why I can't play Quidditch"

"Maybe they are just worried you are going to throw yourself off your broom" I could see the smile on Lee's face as he said this, I'm glad my friends new the truth and had believed me when I told them about what happened

"Why would I do that, I would miss you too much Lee" I looked at him with a frown and put a hand over my heart

"You are an idiot Em, have you seen Angie or George?"

"Nah I came straight here after therapy, I figured Angie would be at work and George would be busy at the shop considering Christmas is coming up" Angie worked at one of the high end clothing lines as a fashion designer, there were perks to her having that kind of job. My wardrobe was filled to the brim with clothes of varying designs, colours and styles. George was still working at the shop that he and Fred had opened up after they dropped out before finishing seventh year. I worked there every now and then to help him or just keep my hands busy since I wasn't allowed at Quidditch. I had only been suspended with pay until my situation changes.

"That is true"

"So how are things going between you and Ali?"

"Really good actually, I was worried things might change once I moved in here with her but things haven't change actually"

"I'm happy for both of you..."

"But..."

"There is no buts Lee, I'm just frustrated"

"Why?"

"I want to play Quidditch, why can't the stupid therapist realise I'm not suicidal?"

"Did you answer all her questions today or shut up half way through because you thought they were stupid?" I didn't answer his question; he knew exactly what I had done. "Exactly, now I'm not saying the questions aren't stupid or pointless but maybe if you answered them you might get closer to playing Quidditch again"

"You know what Lee, you're stupid" I just stuck my tongue out of him before Apparating out of the apartment. Alright I knew that was a stupid response and I shouldn't have done it. But I'm sick of everyone realising I need to be at therapy, why can't they just realize I don't need to it. I just want to be able to get back on my broom. If I could I would grab my broom right now and go for a fly, but instead my stupid coach had confiscated it and won't be giving it back anytime soon

When I first landed I wasn't quite sure where I was until I took a good look around, it was the meadow behind the Diggory house. This was where Cedric and I first learnt how to fly and I broke my arm when I fell off the broom when I was 10. I had no idea why I came here, originally I just wanted to go home but then I remembered that I live in the Quidditch building and decided home wasn't the best option. The Quidditch building housed most of the English players; each team had their own floor. You couldn't get onto another teams floor unless they invited you. You didn't have to live in the building if you didn't want too, most of the players chose to unless they were in a serious relationship.

I stood up and headed towards the makeshift tree house I had made with Cedric when we were younger in hopes our old brooms were still in there. When we were younger we were given older brooms from his cousins before we started at Hogwarts. When we had started we talked about trying out for the Quidditch team and we both did and made it in our second year, that year we both received brand new brooms for our birthdays. That Christmas we came out here and hid our old brooms, in case they were taken from us which they were a few times.

When I made it to the tree house I climbed in two find two incredibly old brooms covered in dust, I picked one up and dusted it off. When I was outside I mounted the broom and flew up into the air, I had forgotten how bad this broom was but I didn't care because here I was sitting on a broom in the air taking in the sunset.

"EMERY BLACK!" crap; I turned around and noticed Isabelle standing below me. I flew down and got off the broom and looked at her

"Yes Isabelle?"

"What do you think you were doing on a broom? I know you were told by your therapist you weren't allowed to play Quidditch yet"

"Come on, I'm not going to fly up 100 feet in the year and jump off my broom. When is everyone going to realise I didn't try and kill myself all those months ago?"

"Emery someone found you lying on the floor of your apartment in a pool of blood with a piece of glass sticking out of your wrist"

"I punched the stupid mirror and in the process got a piece of glass stuck in my wrist; I passed out before I could do anything"

"At least come in for dinner"

"Why so you can lecture me about not listening to my therapist? I miss being on a broom, I miss being able to do something, I have never been so agitated. I'm not allowed to go swimming because she thinks I'm going to drown myself in the pool. I can't go running because normally I go running around the pitch and I can't go to the gym because I use the gym at the Stadium. I'm not allowed at the Stadium in case I throw myself off the stands"

"Emery you are being stupid"

"Am I? Why can't I go swimming, running or to the gym then?"

"I don't know but your therapist must have a good enough reason for stopping you from doing all of that"

"I'm bored and I feel useless. I keep getting paid for doing nothing, I spend a bit of time with George at the shop just so I have something to do. I'm surprised I haven't been kicked out of my apartment, why isn't my therapist so sure I won't throw myself off the balcony?"

"Emery if you aren't going to come in and have dinner, then I don't know what to say to you. I have no idea what your therapist believes as to why you can't play Quidditch or go to the pitch"

"I don't want dinner Isabelle, I may just leave" I went to turn around but I felt something pull on the broom I was still holding

"Emery give me the broom please"

"Why?"

"You know why, you aren't allowed on the broom. Just come in and talk to Amos, I know he misses you" I just handed Isabelle the broom.

"No Isabelle, if Amos missed me he would have visited me in the hospital like everyone else did. Bye" I apparated away and when I noticed where I was I noticed I was near Andromeda's house. I guess I really didn't want to go home today. I knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

"Ree, what are you doing here?" God I hated that nick name, Nymph had started it when she was younger. Mum said she had trouble pronouncing Emery and it just came out as Ree, the nick name stuck with family.

"I missed you Andy, am I interrupting?"

"No of course not, come in I was just about to start dinner" Andy moved aside to let me in

"How is Teddy going?" I followed Andy through the house before taking a seat at the kitchen counter

"Really good, I think he found his favourite hair colour. The last few days it hasn't changed from this electric blue he found"

"That's adorable; I'm assuming he is asleep?"

"Actually no, Harry asked to have him for the night" I looked over at Andy and noticed the frown on her face.

"Andy what's wrong?"

"It's just Harry, yes I'm grateful he finally got rid of Voldemort but in the process I lost my husband, my daughter and my son in law and I'm stuck raising my grandson alone because his godmother decided to get herself thrown in hospital"

"Andy that isn't my fault"

"I know I was joking, calm down. I got a phone call from you that night remember; you were drunk and complaining about Fred. You kept going on about how much you hated him because he left you here alone"

"I really should stop drinking, maybe I should add that to the list of things I'm not allowed to do"

"How big has that list gotten?" This is what I love about Andy, she knows I didn't try and kill myself that night and she also believes that my therapist is an idiot and doesn't know what she is talking about.

"Too big, I'm not allowed to go running, swimming, to the gym, I'm not allowed to go flying; I'm not allowed to play Quidditch. Andy I'm not even allowed to go to the stadium, she thinks I'm going to throw myself off the stands"

"Oh wow, has she told you that you had to move out of your apartment?"

"That's what I said to Isabelle, I could throw myself off the balcony" Andy and I just laughed a little. "Alright, what's for dinner?"

"No idea didn't think about it. I haven't had the night to myself in 6 months. I have always had Teddy here with me"

"Didn't you say you were about to start dinner when I got here though?"

"Yeah but first I had to decide what I wanted, how about breakfast instead of dinner and we can curl up on the couch and watch movies?"

"What do you mean breakfast?"

"Pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs?"

"Oh yes please, that sounds amazing Andy"

So that is what Andy and I did for the rest of the night, first I helped her make dinner before we went into the living room and curled up on the couch with blankets and began eating while watching movies. We watched Something About Mary, I laughed a little about that since my stupid Therapist was called Mary. We watched a couple of horror movies before watching the Parent Trap, when it was finished I didn't realise how tired I was.

"I should be heading home Andy, I should get back and get some sleep. Enjoy the rest of your night. Love you" I kissed Andy on the check before leaving the house and Apparating home.

I appeared on the ground floor of the Quidditch Building and got into the elevator. I took it all the way up to the 12th floor before climbing out and walking down the corridor to my apartment. When I reached the door I fumbled with my keys before opening the door. Before I walked in the door to the apartment next to mine opened and the occupant walked out.

"How was therapy today?" I just groaned at the Scottish accent, normally I would rather bang my head against the wall then deal with him but since he was the idiot that took me to St Mungo's he actually thinks I'm trying to kill myself.

I turned around and face Oliver Wood, the starting Keeper at Puddlemere United where I was one of the reserve Chasers and I was in a good shot of being placed on the starting team this year if he didn't take me to St Mungo's when he found me. He had been a thorn in my side for years, first he was the annoying Quidditch Captain that wouldn't know when to stop. I was ecstatic when he graduated at the end of my fifth year, I didn't have to deal with him anymore. I was thrilled when I got the offer to play Quidditch for Puddlemere United, but it wasn't until I turned up for my first training session I noticed who one of the Keepers were.

"What's it to you Wood? You don't care, you would rather palm me off to Healers instead of fix me up yourself. I know you can perform the Healing spells" I glared at Wood before walking into my flat and slamming the door shut.


	2. The Truth Comes Out

**I don't own anything you recognise  
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**The Truth Comes Out**

"Come on Emery, open the door" why the hell is Wood calling me Emery, he always called me Black and I always called him Wood. It was as civil as we got.

"Go away Wood" I rested my head against the door in hopes that he would give up and leave

"No, you have been ignoring me for two weeks. I swear I think you have been avoiding, you rarely come home. I wasn't even allowed to visit you in the hospital"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you are one of my team mates and I was shocked when I found you lying on the floor. I freaked out and didn't know what to do, so I took you to St Mungo's"

"You don't care about me, if you did you wouldn't have told the Healer's I tried to kill myself!"

"Why are you yelling at me through the door?"

"Because you are an idiot who thinks I actually tried to kill myself"

"What else was I meant to think?"

"THAT I'M NOT SUICIDAL!"

"I'm guessing Emery is home?"

"Carter is that you?" Carter Jenkins, I loved Carter. He was my rock at Quidditch, when he wasn't on dates with random women he was sitting with me at the Hospital. Carter was two years older than me and was recruited to Puddlemere the same year as Oliver and was one of the Chasers on the Starting team.

"Yes, Em I just got home. Can you let me in?"

"Sure" I opened the door and grabbed Carter's arm pulling him inside, Oliver went to follow. "Not you, you can go to your own apartment" I just shut the door

"Emery open the door" I just ignored Wood and followed Carter into the living and took a seat on the couch next to Carter resting my feet on his laps.

"How was your day Em?"

"Shit, I had therapy"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Wednesday is therapy day"

"Yeah, how was Quidditch?"

"Do you really want to talk about Quidditch?"

"Nope, I would rather be at Quidditch"

"It's alright Em, I miss you at Quidditch as well" I just relaxed into the couch as I continued talking to Carter, at some point he had taken my shoes and began rubbing my feet.

"That feels so good Carter"

"Good, hopefully you will be in a better mood"

"Why?"

"Because we have a Quidditch function tomorrow night..."

"Oh so you are the one bringing me the bad news?"

"I suggested it"

"Too bad I'm not going. I'm not allowed to play Quidditch why should I have to go to the function?"

"Because one it is the Annual Christmas Gala and two I think management have agreed to a press conference"

"Why do I have to be at the press conference?"

"Because it's about you..."

"Carter what are you on about? I was in St Mungo's for 5 months and even now that I'm out I'm not allowed to play. I wasn't even placed on the starter team"

"They were planning on moving up to the Starting team to replace Evans. You ended up in St Mungo's before the paperwork could be written up. While you were in St Mungo's it was leaked that you were the first option before..."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I'm going to kill Wood" I cut Carter off, not even letting him finishing before I got up and stormed out of my apartment and began banging on Wood's door.

"What the hell Emery?" When the door opened it revealed Wood standing there shirtless and a pair of pants that hung low around his waist. I would have to be blind and an idiot if I didn't admit that Wood had a fit body, it was the Quidditch that did it. Even Carter had a fit body.

"I just found out that if I hadn't been in St Mungo's for the last 5 MONTHS I would have been moved up to the starting team to replace Evans. Why the hell couldn't you just heal me yourself!"

"Come on Em, leave Oliver alone and let him get back to sleep" I turned around to see Carter leaning against the door frame

"You told her about the press conference?"

"Only half of it, I was about to tell her the rest of it when she stormed out of the apartment"

"Right, well I'm going back inside before she starts yelling again. For some reason I believe she will blame me. Goodnight and good luck Carter" I was confused as I watched Wood go back into his apartment.

"What's going on Carter?"

"Come on come back inside and I will tell you the rest of the reasoning behind the press conference" I just stared at him, I was completely confused. What the hell was going on? "Come on Em, I will tell you inside"

When we were back inside I sat on the couch and stared at Carter, waiting for him to start talking.

"As I was saying before you left, it was leaked that you were the first option to replace Evans before you ended up in St Mungo's. But last week it was leaked why you were in St Mungo's"

"How?" it came out as a whisper. As much as I know I didn't attempt to kill myself, my friends knew this as well as my family and that's what mattered but now that the information had been leaked it felt like my world was crashing down. Why hadn't no one told me this, I hated reading the magazines because so much of the stories were fake. Hell a few of them suggested I was sleeping with several of the Quidditch Players. There weren't too many females playing Professional Quidditch and most of the ones that did played for the Holly Harpies, the whole team consisted of female players.

"We don't know. Management spent the week trying to work out who let it out, none of the other players knew except Oliver and myself. It was only the coaching staff and management that knew the truth. They told the rest of the players that you went on a holiday to help with your grief"

"I can't deal with this right now, night..." I just got up and walked into my bedroom before collapsing onto my bed.

I wasn't laying in bed for long when the door opened and Carter walked in and joined me in my bed after taking off his shoes and shirt.

"Carter what am I going to do tomorrow. The people that matter believed me when I said I didn't try to kill myself, the only people who didn't believe me were Oliver, my therapist and the coaches and management. This is going to be the biggest shit storm tomorrow" I rolled over and faced Carter

"I have no idea Em, we will worry about it tomorrow. Come on get some sleep, I'm not going anywhere" Carter just put an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him before I fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning Carter was gone, I just decided to get up and go shower before heading over to Angie's apartment. Angie would help me figure out what to wear tonight and I could ask her what to do about everything.

"Did you all know about the leaks?" I didn't even let Angie speak, as soon as the door opened it slipped out. Angie sighed

"Yes, we all did. You may as well come inside" Angie moved aside to allow me to walk past and towards the kitchen

"When did you all find out and why didn't you tell me?" I jumped up and sat down on the counter

"We found out when the article was released, we agreed not to tell you that you were their first choice for different reasons. One you were still in the hospital, two you would have killed Wood we know you blame him for being in there and three we didn't exactly know how you would react. As for the leak about you why you were in hospital I only saw the article yesterday when I went into work. I figured you would have already heard since I also heard about the press conference tonight, I assume that is why you are here?"

"Yeah, I came to get some help about what to wear tonight and I needed someone to talk to about everything"

"Who told you?"

"Carter told me and then I yelled at Wood because he was the reason I didn't move up to the starting team"

"Does he know how bad it is going to be tonight?"

"No he doesn't. All he knows is that all the starting team will be plus coaches and management as well as myself. I will be the centre attraction. Angie I will be eaten alive tonight, everyone is going to want to know 'why I attempted to kill myself'"

"But that isn't true, what does management want you to say?"

"I have no idea, I don't even know what time I have to be there tonight"

"Well how about I grab my make up kits and some dresses and we head back to yours where Carter can find you"

The next thing I know I am sitting on my bed in my underwear talking to Angie while she riffles through my wardrobe.

"You know you need to clean this thing out"

"Why would I do something like that when I have you to do it for me, I'm actually surprised you didn't do it while I was in the hospital"

"None of us can get in here without you"

"Oh yeah..." It's not just other players that can't get on to other teams floors. Non Quidditch Playing Wizards or Witches can't either; they need a player with them to require access. It was quite a pain when I wanted to see my friends; I always had to go to them.

"Angie have you figured out what I'm going to wear tonight yet?"

"Nope, if you are cold put on your dressing gown" I just groaned standing up and taking the gown from Angie's out stretched hand and then there was a knock at the door. I went and answered the door to find Wood standing there

"What are you doing here?"

"Carter had to go out for the day and asked me to check on you"

"Why it's not like you care?"

"Em, get your scrawny ass back in here" I heard Angie yell from my bedroom, I frowned at the scrawny ass comment.

"Come on, Angie's here. She's helping me work out what to wear tonight" I moved aside and let Wood inside before leading him to my bedroom.

"Hey Angie" Wood smiled at Angie when she looked up for two seconds

"Hi Wood, Em do you still have those hot pink kitten heels?"

"I think they may be in their box under my bed with the rest of my shoes" I sat down on the bed and looked at Wood standing there awkwardly in the door way

"Right, I may find other shoes as well under there" I laugh as Angie then gets on her stomach and starts pulling shoe boxes out from underneath my bed.

"Wood you can sit on the bed. What are you doing here anyway?" Wood walked over and took a seat at the end of my bed

"Carter asked me to check on you today and make sure you get to the stadium on time"

"Why would you care if I'm there on time or not?"

"Because it is a team function"

"Oh yeah your precious Quidditch, that's what you were thinking about when you found me lying on the floor. You didn't want a suicidal player on your team in case one day I decided to take a head first dive to the ground"

"Emery stop blaming me. I heard the smash through the wall and thought something had happened so I came to check on you, I freaked out when I saw you lying on the ground in a pool of your blood. The only thing I could think of doing was taking you to St Mungo's"

"Why didn't you heal me yourself?"

"I didn't have my wand on me and even if I did I couldn't think straight. I was surprised when I apparated us to St Mungo's in one piece. Why didn't you let me visit you in St Mungo's?"

"Originally it was only family, so that was just Andy, Isabelle, Amos and Teddy. After a while Ali was allowed to visit because she kept bugging my Healer and therapist, a week later Lee, George and Angie were allowed to visit. I eventually convinced them to let Carter visit and I stopped at that, I figured the less people to come the better it would be. Quidditch Players coming and going from the pysch ward wouldn't be good but yet someone let it slip anyway"

"Where did Angie go?"

"She most likely went to the spare bedroom to see what clothes are in that wardrobe. What time do we have to be at the Stadium?"

"Coach said the conference starts at 6 and the Christmas Gala starts at 7, but I don't know what time you have to be at the stadium though"

"I don't care about the Christmas Gala, I'm not going. I'm assuming I'm waiting for an owl from management about what time I have to be there"

"Most likely, what are you going to say?"

"I would like to say the truth, I didn't attempt to kill myself. I was just drunk and did something stupid" I noticed the frown on his face. "You don't believe me do you?"

"I don't know what to believe Emery, you were a mess after everything that happened. But if you knew about you being placed on the starting team then I don't think you would have done it. You have been training your ass off to get that position"

"Why did you start calling me Emery?"

"It's your name"

"Yes it is, but you have always called me Black and I've always called you Wood" he was silent for a moment and I just sat there watching him while he thought about a response, before he could speak Angie came back into my room.

"Em this turned up for you" Angie handed the letter over to me and I took a good look at it, it was one of the official Puddlemere United Letters. I opened it and read the letter.

_Emery Black,_

_We had hoped by now you had heard about the press conference that has been called for tonight before the Christmas Gala. We require you to attend the press conference tonight but before that begins we need to speak about a few things beforehand._

_Please arrive at the Stadium 4:30pm_

_Bill Dickens_

Great, I am requested to have a meeting with the head coach and owner of the club, if you could call him a head coach anyway. He never attended training sessions, he just left it up to the other coaches. Coach Dylan Bishop was in charge of the Chasers, Coach Michael Collins was in charge of the Beaters while Coach Matthew Westerfell was in charge of The Seeker and Keeper. Coach Dylan also developed new plays.

I looked over at the clock and it read 2:30pm.

"What did the letter say?" I loved over at Wood and Angie, they both looked concerned about what was going to happen tonight. I didn't know why Wood was concerned, oh wait it will affect his precious team. He wasn't even Captain but yet he acted like one.

"Bill Dickens wants me at the Stadium at 4:30" I laid back on my bed and put a pillow over my face

"Umm...Emery what are you wearing underneath the dressing gown?" I pulled the pillow away from my face and looked at Wood, he was a little red in the face.

"Just underwear, I was only wearing underwear just before you turned up" I smirked at him as his face went even redder

"Right...well...I might just leave and let you get ready, I will see you tonight" I didn't even notice Wood get up and leave since I had the pillow back over my face

"When did he start calling you Emery?" I sat up and looked over at Angie, she had taken a seat on my bed next to me while she had placed several dresses on the bed as well

"I have no idea Angie, it started last night. I tried asking him about it but you came in with the letter, speaking of which I have two hours to get ready. You may as well get me ready for the press conference and the Christmas Gala just in case" Angie grinned as she pulled me up and into the bathroom.

Two hours later I had just arrived at the Stadium and I was currently standing in the stands taking in the pitch. I had missed being here and the only reason I was here was because I needed to be at this stupid press conference, I would have been happy to hang out with George, Angie, Lee and Ali but no here I was dressed in a midnight blue knee length dress with black heels and my hair was straightened down the length of my back and my make up was natural enough for the press conference but nice enough for the Christmas Gala if I was forced to stay.

"I had a feeling I would find you out here" I turned around to find Coach Dylan standing there

"Let me guess, you have come to check to make sure I won't throw myself over the stands?"

"Like I believe you tried to kill yourself. Before the war started you were so full of life, you are the last person I would have thought to do something like that. I even think Wood would try and kill himself first and that will only be because we would have lost a match or championship or something"

"Oh he actually tried before, in my fifth year I had to drag him out of the showers after our match against Hufflepuff. I found him lying on the ground under the freezing cold water"

"He is such a idiot"

"I know right. Dylan, how bad is tonight going to be?"

"I don't know. I don't know what Dickens and the rest of the management have discussed, we should head in" I sighed, took one last look at the pitch before turning around following Dylan throughout the maze we call a stadium until we were sitting in the conference room. I hadn't been in here since I signed my signing contract, first I had an interview with all the coaches and management to make sure I was right for the team and then we discussed what they could offer me.

My conversation with Dylan was interrupted by the management team and the rest of the coaches walked in, shortly followed by my therapist, Mary

"Miss Black, glad you could join us" Bill Dickens took the seat at the head of the table

"I didn't really have a choice did I? What is my therapist doing here?"

"Emery I am here to make sure whatever is decided is done in your best interest" great this would good, she would want me to tell the world I tried to kill myself

"I don't see why consider you believe I attempted to kill myself. Speaking of which, I would like to know how that lie was spread in the first place"

"Emery, you found in your apartment in a pool of your own blood and we haven't worked it out. We don't believe it was anyone here at Puddlemere so we are left with someone at St Mungo's"

"Godric, I did something stupid and hurt myself as a result" I threw my head back and leaned it against the chair

"Then explain to us what you were going through that day and that following night then" I looked between Mary and Bill deciding whether it was worth it or not.

"Fine, I had the last funeral to attend that day. Two days earlier was the mass memorial ceremony for everyone that lost their lives at Hogwarts. The next day I had to stand there with my Aunt and bury my cousin and uncle. The following day I had to bury my best friend. It was enough, I couldn't take it anymore. None of my friends could, so we went to the Leaky Cauldron for drinks. I don't remember how much I had to drink but it was helping with the pain of everyone that I had buried and said goodbye to over the past few days. They weren't the only people I had lost due to Voldemort's crusade to rid the world of muggles and muggle borns. When I was back in my apartment I caught my reflection in the mirror and I looked like crap, my hair was a mess and my make-up had run from all the crying and I punched the mirror out of frustration. Somehow a piece of glass ended up slicing my wrist, if anyone had bothered to check my knuckles they were cut and bloody as well. If you look at them now they're are tiny scars on there from the cuts"

"Why are you never mentioned this before Emery?"

"I HAVE! The whole five months I was stuck in St Mungo's. I kept saying I was drunk and did something stupid but no one would believe me, they would all rather believe that I was a silly young girl grieving over the loss of my friends and family and I couldn't take it anymore and decided that killing myself would make everything feel better"

"Let's say you are telling the truth, what do we do about this press conference?" I looked at them, were they serious? This was their job to work out how to fix these problems, I don't even know how this problem occurred. It's not my fault that it got out.

"It's that what this was for, you tell me what to say?"

"Not exactly, we still weren't sure what happened that night. All we know is Oliver found you in your apartment lying in a pool of blood and he took you to St Mungo's where they decided to check you into the Psychiatric Ward. We wanted to hear from you what happened and how you think this should be fixed"

"Bill I would prefer to tell everyone the truth about what happened and then maybe everyone will think I didn't try and kill myself. But for some reason I don't believe me saying I was drunk and did something stupid is something you want one of your players to tell the world"

"That is true Emery"

"Then what do I say this evening and shouldn't Oliver be here considering he was the one that found me?"

"I thought that originally but we don't even know if the news got out"

"What about Carter then he was the one visiting me nearly every day in the hospital, I'm surprised there weren't any stories about the two of us again"

"Did you not read the article Emery?"

"No, the last time I read some of those articles I was furious. They were suggesting I was sleeping with the numerous amounts of boys at Puddlemere United plus the ones in the building"

"Yes I remember that one. In these articles about you being in the hospital there is no mention of Oliver or Carter"

"Just because there are no mention of them, it doesn't mean the information is out there. Everyone who knew what happened that night and where I was knew that Oliver had found me and that Carter had been visiting me. Wouldn't you think that if the information about me being in the pysch ward got out so would the information about those two?"

No one knew what to say to that, they knew I was right. They all looked at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. I realised then that Mary hadn't said anything, she had stayed quiet this whole time.

"Emery why do you think Oliver and Carter should be here?" I looked over at Bill, I knew why I wanted Carter here. Carter was my rock at Quidditch aside from Dylan but Dylan was a part of the coaching staff. Carter had been there for me every step of the way when I was in the hospital. But I couldn't work out why I wanted Wood here aside for the fact that he was a part of it because he was the one that found me and took me to the hospital. Even though I blamed for everything I had been through the last five months for taking me to St Mungo's instead of healing me himself, I am alive because of him. Who knows what would have happened if he didn't find me, would I have lived or would I have slowly bled out?

"Carter should because he was regularly visiting me in the hospital. What if someone had spotted him? He should know what we discuss. As for Oliver he was the one that found me, wouldn't it be weird if he had no idea what was going on even though he found me?"

"Emery you wouldn't even let him visit you"

"That wasn't me that was the Healers"

"You got them to let Carter to visit you"

"And that took me forever Bill, I didn't want to push my luck. Even then Oliver and I don't get along. I don't even call him Oliver, I call him Wood. I have only used Oliver for the point of this conversation. I just thought for the point of the press conference it would be the safer for the team to have both Carter and Oliver here since they are involved"

"Very well, I will go send both Oliver and Carter an owl and tell them to get here as soon as possible" I watched as Bill got up and left the room, he came back minutes later and the rest of us sat in silence while we waited for Wood and Carter to turn up.

Carter was the first one to turn up, when he walked into the room he took a look at everyone that was present before walking over to me and kissing me on the cheek.

"Are you alright? What is going on?"

"I'm fine, we're just waiting on Wood"

"Why?" Before I could answer Wood walked in and took a seat at the table, he looked my way but I just shook my head at him.

"I assume you are both wondering you are here" Carter and Wood nodded at Bill. "Emery suggested having both of you here while we discuss how best to handle this situation, Emery still stands by the fact that she was drunk and did something stupid but we don't want it to get out that one of our players was drunk and did something stupid. She suggested that maybe the reporters know you are involved in the story but haven't released the information in hopes of surprising us tonight"

"So what is the story then?" Wood spoke while he was looking at me

"We haven't work it out yet, we were starting to discuss it when Emery suggested you should be here"

"Very well, what if we say..."

We then spent the next hour discussing my suppose story for being in St Mungo's for so long.


End file.
